Cold water stung Nora’s open wounds, waking her from her dark slumber.

  The bone-chilling liquid sank into her flesh, flushing out the welcome relief of the dreamless sleep she’d been enjoying just a moment before.

  And she had no idea where the hells she was.

  She gasped and scrambled for purchase, but the mud beneath her clutched onto her limbs like the dark embrace of some seabound monstrosity.

  Nora spluttered in the shallow waters for several breathless moments before her feet found a smooth stone beneath the surface of the murky liquid, and she managed to swing her exhausted limbs into a low crouch.

  The large ropes that had bound her the previous evening still clung to her naked body, and she noticed that a soaked cloak swam by her feet. Her vision cleared in stride with her mind, and she picked it up quickly.

  Her pulse quickened.

  The cloak was undoubtedly Evie’s though it was now soiled by what she could see was swamp water. Nora cursed, pulling the heavy material over her shivering form.

  She wiped her face and eyes of the wild strands of her black hair and scanned the surroundings for Evie. Around her, dozens of squat trees billowed in a humid breeze that stank of mildew and rotting fish.

  Her nose crinkled in disgust, but she quickly tempered her senses. This was far from the first time she’d been thrust into harsh environments, though in fairness she was often far better equipped and dressed for such situations.

  Cursing, she unearthed her feet from the muddy floor of the swamp she’d awoken in and stomped toward a nearby patch of mossy ground. Wildgrass bit into the soft underside of her feet as she clambered onto the packed dirt, her rope and cloak dragging dangerously across the barbed flora.

  Nora shoved down her exhaustion and disorientation, compartmentalizing what needed to be done. With deft strokes, she ripped a portion of the cloak’s hem and used the soggy material to tie her hair back. Nearby voices caught her attention, and she listened carefully to pinpoint where they were coming from.

  A hundred or so yards away, a familiar woman sloshed through swamp water. Nora’s heart caught in her throat.

  Evie.

  The siren’s movements were sluggish, made worse by the large greatsword she dragged behind her. Clumps of clothes were tucked awkwardly beneath Evie’s petite arms.

  A lump formed in Nora’s throat. Her best friend in the world was alive. She had made it. They had both made it. To hells with wherever they now were.

  They had made it out alive.

  Nora was about to call out to her friend when dark silhouettes emerged from behind Evie. They were some distance off, but by the way they stalked toward the siren, Nora could immediately tell they weren’t here for a friendly chat.

  The paladin gritted her teeth and yanked the winding length of rope off her form right before she tied the cloak around her bruised body. She then wrapped the opposite edge of the rope around her fist and arm. With a jolt of surprise, she noticed the runes etched into the ends of the rope were still functional.

  Evie caught sight of her and waved urgently. Nora’s lips tightened into a thin line, and she jumped back into the swamp water, uncaring of the energy the muddy environment stole from her limbs. Errant twigs bit into her legs and arms as she ran, and the stagnant swamp rippled chaotically in her wake.

  “Nora!” Evie yelled as the paladin reached her best friend. “I have your sword!”

  “Thank you, Birdie,” Nora responded but rushed past the siren without pausing. “I’ll be with you shortly!”

  Weak as she was, she didn’t trust her body to handle her greatsword in this state. Rope, however, would work just fine.

  The three figures came into focus through the thick haze that encompassed this strange place. Nora wanted to scream and curse Destiny for their terrible luck. Before her were three shambling undead, each likely once human, though any distinguishing factors had long since rotted off of them.

  Their presence was a terrible omen, and Nora knew that if they were here, whoever animated them wasn’t far behind. She climbed onto a semi-dry patch of earth and unfurled the enchanted rope.

  The heavy cords thudded against the ground, and she neatly tied a large knot at the far end. The figures drew closer, and she pressed the activation rune. Water sizzled against the ethereal flames. Powerful as azureflame was, the rope would likely disrupt whatever powered these corpses.

  Or, in this case, an azurelash whip.

  A Fateweaver’s deadliest weapon against magic.

  “Ready to die again, you foul creatures?” Nora whispered to her three foes.

  The zombies growled softly and lunged with erratic and wild swings. Her back foot dug into the tallgrass around her as she whipped the heavy knot forward. It slammed into the decaying teeth of the nearest undead with a wet gurgle.

  She used the momentum to retract the cord and then swing it over her head. With a yell, she flicked the rope and wrapped it around the neck of the second zombie. The blue flames burst across its crumbling form, the black rags it wore falling off in dripping fragments.

  The flames ate their way into the monster’s chest, where an eerie green light sizzled and smoked under its skin. The final zombie reached her, and it screeched as it bit toward her exposed neck.

  She swerved around the lunge and then extended her arms behind her. With two swift jerks of the rope, she tied the final undead within the grasp of the blue flames. Nora stepped back, watching in dark satisfaction as the trio of abominations burned away into dust.

  “Remind me to never let you fight with the azurelash again,” Evie said as she waded through the swamp water. “That was terrifying, Nor.”

  Nora chuckled humorlessly and offered her hand to the siren. She took it, and together the two of them stood over the dissipating corpses. Without breaking her careful observation, Evie handed Nora the clothes and greatsword she’d been carrying.

  “I meant to get you in these before the trial started, but I might’ve gotten a bit distracted tending to your wounds,” Evie explained with a light blush on her cheeks.

  “You tended to my wounds?” Nora asked, and she scanned her body quickly.

  Sure enough, there were faint traces of herbs stuck to the worst of her cuts and bruises, though most of it had washed away.

  “Thank you, Birdie.” She meant it with every fiber of her being.

  Every time she forgot about the siren’s extensive training, Evie came and did something like this. Her best friend seemed to catch on that her gratitude extended far beyond their current circumstances, and her eyes softened further. Evie nodded, and that lump in Nora’s throat threatened to bring on a flood of tears.

  Fingers shaking, Nora pulled on her damp clothes and re-laced her boots.

  “So,” Nora said slowly from where she crouched on one knee. “The trial has started? What are the odds no one saw the state I arrived in?”

  “None whatsoever!” Evie giggled.

  Nora’s gaze darted to the horizon, where movement drew her attention.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Nora spat.

  “What? What is it?” Evie asked, squinting her eyes in the vague direction Nora stared.

  Evie’s mouth drew apart in a gasp when she saw what had Nora in such a foul mood. Near where they had landed at the beginning of the trial, a wall of dark green miasma rolled forward like a vengeful tide, its eerie glow illuminating the swamp in an otherworldly hue.

  The air buzzed with an ominous hum, and Nora could feel the hairs on her arms prickling like a thousand tiny needles. Though it had been years since she’d encountered the death-attuned mist, it was unmistakable. The miasma’s sickly, sweet scent, like overripe fruit left to rot, filled her nostrils, making every breath a challenge.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “We need to move,” Nora muttered, eyes narrowing at the shrouded center of the swamp in the opposite direction. “Now.”

  Evie nodded and took a comforting step closer to her paladin. The urgency in Nora’s voice galvanized her, and together, they pressed on, each step a struggle against the swamp’s grip.

  Every few feet, more undead lurched from the shadows, their groans melding into a cacophony of decay. The smell of rotting flesh clung to the humid air, turning each inhale into a battle against nausea.

  Nora’s azurelash snapped out, wrapping around a zombie’s neck with a hiss of ethereal flame, the scent of burning putrescence mingling with the swamp’s foul aroma, while her greatsword cleaved through another with brutal efficiency, the blade whistling through the air like a deadly symphony.

  Though she would never admit it aloud, this was cathartic as hell.

  The terrain fought against them as much as the undead. Thick, sucking mud clung to their boots, pulling at their feet like the grasping hands of the drowned. Twisted roots seemed to rise from the earth just to trip them, and the occasional splash of cold, stagnant water sent shivers up Nora’s spine.

  “Watch out!” Evie screamed mere moments before seemingly inert plants a few yards away burst into motion.

  Sentient bushes with tentacled branches—which Nora mentally dubbed “Drowner’s Grasp”—whipped out, trying to ensnare them.

  One particularly aggressive vine caught Evie around the ankle, pulling her toward the murky depths. With a fierce yell, Nora swung her sword, severing the fibrous appendage with a spray of green ichor that smelled of sour bile and damp earth.

  Evie scrambled to the surface and clung to Nora. The paladin slew the plants with vicious efficiency, ichor splattering across her borrowed cloak. When they had passed the murderous greenery, Evie cleared her throat.

  “Nora,” Evie said, her voice strained as she kicked free of a clump of gooey algae. “We need to talk about last night. I just need to know—”

  “Birdie, please. Not now,” Nora hissed as she slashed at another zombie that popped out of the murky water. “Let’s just focus on staying alive!”

  “But we must!” Evie insisted, ducking under a flailing branch.

  Nora beheaded the undead and used the azurelash to burn a second while they recovered their breath. Nora absently noted that the enchanted rope was nearly out of juice again, and would need to recharge for a few hours before its magic-eating fire would be viable.

  “You’re a Dreadcaller, aren’t you?” Evie’s words were a dagger to her gut.

  Nora’s heart skipped a beat, and she almost missed a step. A zombie collided with her shoulder, but she twisted her hips and threw the monster away. She whipped the azurelash forward, and it snapped against the undead’s skull with a sickening crunch. The animated corpse collapsed into the swamp.

  “Evie, this really isn’t the time!” Nora wiped at her brow, but only managed to smear the ichor that stuck there.

  “When else, Nora?” Evie retorted, her eyes fierce despite the chaos around them. “We’re running for our lives, yes, but that doesn’t mean we can ignore the truth!”

  Nora gritted her teeth, her movements sharp with frustration. “Fine. You want to know about the Dreadcallers?”

  She slashed through a zombie’s torso, the undead falling in pieces at her feet, the scent of decay almost overpowering. She sighed and lowered her chin in resignation. Sword held limply at her side, she finally answered Evie’s demands.

  “Birdie… The Fateweavers found me because they were sent to destroy a cult who worshiped the fallen god, Dread,” Nora started, worried more about this truth than the undead.

  Evie’s eyes widened, but she kept moving, dodging through the oncoming puppets of Death.

  “Aren’t those warriors impossible to kill…” Evie whirled on the paladin. “Wavebreaker?”

  “Was wielded by Angela, the sect leader before me,” Nora nodded and continued, her voice clipped. “She banished the abyssal creature they had summoned but it had already massacred the cult…”

  Nora’s eyes grew distant, and several long seconds passed before she mustered the courage to speak again.

  “...my sister included.” Nora could hardly breathe at the memory.

  They moved through the swamp, their progress slow and arduous. Neither spoke. Instead, they simmered on what was just revealed after so many years hidden away in Nora’s heart.

  Despite her weapons, she felt weak and defenseless under the weight of those memories. So much was left unsaid about what really happened that day.

  The miasma inched closer, a dark, looming presence at their backs. More zombies lurched forward, their decaying bodies breaking through the undergrowth. Nora welcomed the distraction, and she attacked with abandon.

  The azurelash cracked and hissed, wrapping around a zombie’s torso and igniting it with blue flames. Evie remained beside her, their movements a deadly dance of survival. The young siren dodged and ducked and kicked with a ferocity Nora had rarely seen exhibited by the fledgling oracle, and it was a sight to see.

  The swamp seemed to conspire against them. Thick, slimy algae coated the surface of the water, making it difficult to see where it was safe to step. Nora’s feet slipped on hidden stones, and once, she plunged into a deeper section of the swamp, her head going under before she could right herself. She emerged, sputtering and soaked, but with grim determination, she pressed on.

  “Nora,” Evie persisted, her voice softer now but no less insistent. “That doesn’t explain last night. It doesn’t explain what you are. If we die here, I don’t want any secrets left between us.”

  “Don’t think like that,” Nora chided.

  “Our odds don’t look great,” Evie said with a wild gesture toward the endless array of the dead.

  Fair point.

  Nora wanted to yell at her to let this go, to focus on the fight, but she knew Evie was right. The truth couldn’t be ignored forever. But here, in this swamp of death, with the miasma closing in and zombies at every turn, it felt like madness.

  She took a deep breath, swinging her sword to behead a nearby zombie, its head rolling through the murky water like a grotesque bobber.

  “Alright, Evie,” Nora sighed. “But you’d better keep your focus while I talk. One slip and we’re both dead.”

  Nora’s words hung in the air as they fought their way through another wave of zombies. The Drowner’s Grasp bushes seemed more aggressive now, their tentacles whipping with renewed fervor.

  The gnarled branches twisted and coiled like serpents, each strike laden with a hissing malice. Nora’s azurelash snapped through the air, cutting down the relentless foliage. It was devoid of magic, but worked just fine as a whip against these tenacious enemies.

  She panted, her voice strained but steady. “The Fateweavers were sent by Destiny to put an end to the cult because he claimed they were summoning foul creatures from the abyss.”

  Evie’s eyes widened, but she didn’t let her surprise slow her down. “And you were part of this cult?”

  Nora swung her greatsword with practiced precision, cleaving through a zombie’s chest. The paladin shook her head, sweat mingling with the swamp’s grime on her face.

  “No, I wasn’t,” Nora answered without looking at her best friend. “But my sister was, and she tricked me. She brought me in as a sacrifice. She—” Nora cleared her throat roughly and sliced at a zombie with a bit too much fervor as she forced herself to relive these horrible memories.

  She had tried so hard to forget all of it.

  To just move on.

  But for Evie’s sake, she continued. “They found me among the fallen, the only survivor. But that idiot leader of the cult wasn’t summoning a creature. She was trying to create a direct connection between them and their god.”

  The two of them pressed forward, the swamp growing darker as the miasma loomed ever closer. The air was thick with the stench of decay and the electric charge of impending doom. Nora’s breath came in ragged gasps as she fought off another wave of undead.

  “Oh…” Evie finally answered.

  “Yeah. They weren’t just summoning some underling beast from the void. They were trying to summon him.” Nora’s response felt as hollow as her chest at that moment. But she forced herself to say his name, to not let it control her like it had all those years before. “They summoned Dread.”

  A cold wind kicked through the sweltering heat of the swamp.

  She couldn’t look at Evie, using the excuse of navigating the murky waters to avoid her friend’s questioning gaze.

  “My sister was supposed to be the anchor. I got free and tried to stop her, but it took me instead. I—I’ve felt his eyes on me ever since, waiting for me to finish what they started. Every time I use my powers, it’s like he can sense it. He comes rushing over as if I’m some sort of beacon in that endless darkness.” Nora ducked under a low-hanging branch of some calcified tree and waited as Evie passed under it as well.

  Evie’s face softened with sympathy, but she kept her focus on the battle and sidestepped another vine that shot out of the putrid water.

  “I’m so sorry, Nora. I had no idea.”

  The swamp seemed to close in around them, the air growing thicker with each passing moment.

  “Nora!” a voice called out through the gloom.

  Jer, Elena, and Gavin emerged from the mist, their faces etched with worry. Nora took in their various wounds, but the look in their eyes was even more concerning than the purpled bruises and cuts.

  Jer took a step forward, his voice cracking with barely restrained panic. “Have you seen Cade?”

  “No,” Nora answered quickly.

  A devastating, doom-sensing chill ran down her spine. She halted, her eyes scanning the shadows.

  “Do you feel that?” she whispered.

  Nora bent her legs and raised her greatsword into a defensive stance.

  Before anyone could respond, darkly cloaked figures emerged from the fog, their movements eerily synchronized. The zombies that had been hounding them constantly simply walked past these newcomers, as if recognizing their masters. Nora’s hand tightened around the hilt of her greatsword, her pulse a war drum in her ears.

  At the forefront of the cloaked individuals stood a girl with twin white braids cascading down her chest. Her skin, normally pale and translucent, appeared unnaturally radiant this time. Her eyes, piercing and cold, met Nora’s with a chilling intensity. A slow, malevolent smile spread across her face.

  “Welcome, thieves,” she said, her voice hauntingly melodic. “I’ve been expecting you.”

  Nora’s heart pounded in her chest as she took a step forward, positioning herself between the girl and her companions.

  “Who are you?” Nora demanded, her voice steady despite the sense of dread gnawing at her insides.

  The girl’s smile widened.

  “I am Astrid, and I am the harbinger of your doom.” She raised a slender hand, and the air crackled with dark energy. “This swamp will be your grave.”

  Nora’s breath caught as she felt the ground beneath her tremble. The miasma closed in, its toxic fingers reaching for them.

  “Prepare yourselves,” the paladin murmured to her friends, her eyes never leaving Astrid’s.

  Astrid’s laughter echoed through the swamp, a sound that sent shivers down Nora’s spine.

  “Let the hunt begin,” she declared.

  In that moment, the swamp erupted into chaos. Dark energy surged around them, the air thick with malevolence. Nora’s grip tightened on her sword as she faced the oncoming storm, knowing that the battle for their lives had only just begun.

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